Trademark case: House v. Player’s Dugout, Inc., USA

The jury award of $340,000 for lost profits was not excessive but the trial court gave improper jury instructions on punitive damages.

Following a jury trial in Louisville, Kentucky that resulted in a mixed verdict, the federal appeals court in Cincinnati, Ohio has affirmed a jury award of $340,000 for lost profits on a trademark infringement claim over a baseball silhouette mark but vacated a punitive damages award of $67,650. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit concluded that the jury award of $340,000 for lost profits on the trademark infringement claim was not excessive and that the district court properly admitted testimony on damages. While the Sixth Circuit largely affirmed the trial court decision, the appeals court vacated a punitive damages award of $67,650 because the district court gave improper jury instructions (House v. Player’s Dugout, Inc., February 8, 2024, Gibbons, J.).

Case date: 08 February 2024

Case number: No. 22-5843

Court:United States Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit

A full summary of this case has been published on Kluwer IP Law